Gas cooktop appliances generally include a plurality of gas burners mounted at a top surface of the appliance. Certain gas cooktop appliances include gas burners with spring loaded temperature sensors. When cooking utensils are positioned on a grate above such gas burners, the spring loaded temperature sensor contacts the cooking utensil and measures a temperature of the cooking utensil. The gas burner deactivates if temperature measurements from the spring loaded temperature sensor exceed a maximum temperature. Thus, if a pot boils dry, the spring loaded temperature sensor prevents the gas burner from heating the pot to an undesirable temperature.
Gas burners that fire inwards, typically with a swirling flame pattern, offer better efficiency than traditional outward firing gas burners. One problem with known inward firing gas burners is that a center of the inward firing gas burners is open, and a portion of the top panel below the open center is perforated to allow components of the inward firing gas burners to pass through the top panel, but spills can also pass through the perforated top panel. Such spills can be difficult to clean. In addition, incorporating a centrally located spring loaded temperature sensor into an inward firing gas burner can be difficult due to excessive flame impingement against the spring loaded temperature sensor.
Accordingly, an inward firing gas burner with a temperature sensor that is not excessively heated would be useful.